


Other Than Honorable

by definitelynotregan



Category: Oakpodcast (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Creepy Fluff, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/M, Making up with one's abuser, Transmission 8 Spoilers, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 04:51:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11982540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/definitelynotregan/pseuds/definitelynotregan
Summary: When heroin's not an option, absolution is a decent backup way to escape the pain.





	Other Than Honorable

The first time Tom laid eyes on his youngest daughter, she was swaddled in pink and screaming on her mother’s lap.

God, Mara had changed so much in six months. Tom set his briefcase on the coffee table and sat down next to her; Mara stiffened.

“I brought diapers,” he said.

Mara glanced up. “Wrong size. She wears Preemies.”

“She’ll grow into them.” Cameron set a mug of herbal tea on the table next to Mara.

“It’s fine,” Mara said. “I’ll buy more once my bank account is unfrozen.”

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about.” Tom dug into his pocket and handed his bank card to Cameron. “Cameron, why don’t you resupply while Mara and I take care of paperwork? Get whatever they need. You’ve more than earned a break.”

Cameron didn’t need to be told twice. Once she was gone, Tom opened his briefcase. Ivy finally latched on, quieting down.

“Lunch time?” Tom asked.

“No, I’m just sitting here with my entire breast out for fun,” Mara snapped.

Ivy suckled for a moment, then pulled away, her face screwing up and turning red.

“Goddammit!” Mara pressed her finger and thumb under her smudged glasses. “Can you—”

“What do you need?” Tom asked.

“Her bottle,” Mara pointed to the kitchen. “Cami just made it.”

Tom fetched the bottle, shaking it for her as he returned it. Mara tried to coax it into Ivy’s mouth, but the baby was too busy screaming. As soon as Mara finally forced the silicone nipple in, Ivy choked and gagged violently.

“Fuck!” Mara shifted Ivy upright, against her shoulder, and patted her back. “Every time!”

“She won’t nurse?” Tom asked.

“No, she does.” Mara’s voice was high, on the verge of a meltdown. “She nurses every thirty minutes. But I’m not making enough milk, and she can’t figure out the bottle, and she’s losing weight so fast the doctor wants to try a feeding tube if it continues into next week, and—” She covered the side of her face with her hand, shielding her from his gaze.

He cupped the back of her neck the way he’d done a hundred times. Her shoulders shot back, rejecting his hand. He pulled away.

“Sometimes it just takes time,” he said as authoritatively as he could muster. “When Jessica was born, they told us not to give her formula at all.”

“ _I_ _know that_ , but Ivy is underweight and she’s not gaining and it’s not the same, all right?” Mara switched Ivy to her other breast, earning another reprieve from the screaming. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so just… just, fuck off and let me handle it!”

“All right.” He held up his hands. “Fucking off. You’re more than capable of handling it yourself.”

He didn’t say it solely because it was true, but rather because of how it would affect her—ahh, there. The way the angry air deflated out of her shoulders.

“I’ve never even held a baby before her,” she admitted. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’ve seen you take apart a bomb with no training but a YouTube video,” he said. “You’ll do fine.”

Her hand dropped to her lap. “I don’t know…”

“Mara, you don’t do anything less than 100%, ever.” He took her hand in one of his, using the other to push her hair behind her ear, testing if she would let him.

She did.

“You’re already a great mother, Mara. You’ll only get better with practice.” He squeezed her hand.

She made eye contact for just a second before looking back down at Ivy. “Thanks.”

Ivy had fallen asleep at Mara’s breast, so Tom kept his voice low.

“There’s no easy way to say this,” he said. “Mica cleared out your bank accounts.”

Mara shook her head. “Mica would never—”

“I have video proof.” He propped up his iPad and showed her the security footage. “Now, we think Mica expected to rendezvous with you, but—”

“Yeah.” Her face was blank as she watched Mica withdraw a suitcase full of cash at the bank. “Yeah...”

“I have your discharge papers. Do you want to get it over—”

“Yeah.”

Tom pulled out her DD-214 and recited the spiel to her, knowing she wasn’t listening.

“By signing this, you’re acknowledging that there’s often intense stigma attached to any Less-Than-Honorable Discharge, and that you’ll be ineligible for most veterans’ services.” He put the pen in her hand. “You’re also acknowledging that you can appeal this discharge by filing a DD-293 form—”

“Whatever.” Mara signed the form. “It’s fine.”

He slipped more forms under her pen, softly explaining each one while she stared out the window. Ivy startled awake periodically to suckle for a moment before drifting off again. When the last form was signed, Willard stroked Ivy’s soft brown hair.

“She’s beautiful,” he said. “She looks a lot like you.”

Mara chewed on her lip. “I was going to buy her a Senators onesie when I had money.”

“Mara… I know we have to make it sound like an OTH discharge is the end of the world, but it’s not. You’re a programmer, for God’s sake. A damn good one. You’ll be fine. Better than fine.”

She burst into tears, startling Willard and Ivy both. He forgot sometimes that she was human, that she was capable of crying.

“I won’t let you or Ivy starve,” he said gently, in case that was the reason for her tears. “I’ll make sure you're both taken care of.”

She shook her head. Wrong again. He sighed. He would never understand her mind.

“I’m… really sorry you’re so upset about the party,” he tried instead, draping a tentative arm over her shoulders. “I would never knowingly—”

It didn’t matter if it was true. She was worn down. She wanted—no, needed to believe him.

“Yeah.” She wiped her face on his shoulder. “Okay.”

With that, she kissed him, and it was just like the first time their lips had ever touched.


End file.
